Sports science body wants greater regulation

Court reporter for The Age

Professor David Bishop said ESSA could not discipline Dank if he was found to have done the wrong thing because he was not a member. Photo: Erin Jonasson

AUSTRALIA'S peak body for sports scientists claims its members' image has been damaged through the Essendon supplements scandal and has called on the AFL to better regulate the industry for the sake of players' safety.

Exercise and Sports Science Australia, which represents 3500 members, has stressed that Stephen Dank - the man who gave injections to Bombers players last year - is not a registered sports scientist and raised concerns he was not qualified to work with elite athletes.

Professor David Bishop, a board member of the peak body, urged the AFL and other sporting codes to provide standards that accredited sports scientists had to meet when working at clubs, which meant they could also be disciplined if they broke a code of ethics in pushing too far in trying to gain a competitive edge. ''Anyone who's not looking after the player's health, who's not using scientifically based principles, we can investigate it and we can absolutely remove their accreditation,'' Bishop said on Thursday.

''We've been unfairly tarnished because every newspaper you open it's 'sport scientist Stephen Dank'. We've been at pains to point out he's not qualified. His nickname is 'The Pharmacist' and that probably says enough. It's [providing supplements to players] a very small part of what sports scientists do. But sometimes you need to have a crisis for some good to come about. If this leads to greater regulation of the sports scientist industry, I think that would be good for the players, the clubs and the administrators.''

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Bishop said ESSA could not discipline Dank if he was found to have done the wrong thing because he was not a member. The Age last year reported the AFL was concerned at the influence sports scientists had at clubs, amid worries that doctors were deferring to high-performance teams. The AFL Sports Science Association has been in place for several years, but is understood to be more of an informal organisation that does not self-regulate.

Bishop said decisions such as the administering of supplements to players had to be a collaborative call made by sports science staff and club doctors, and that medical professionals should have the ultimate call. ''They need to work together but I would say the doctor should have the final say because the health of the athlete needs to be the primary concern,'' he said.

That was a view supported by the AFL Medical Officers Association, but the association's chief executive, Dr Hugh Seward, feared many crucial decisions were taken out of doctors' hands because they were not full-time staff members. ''Unfortunately club doctors are one of the few remaining part-time workers at AFL clubs and clubs often choose to have full-time employees to undertake an administrative component to their role,'' he said.

Seward said most clubs had two or three doctors, juggling their part-time commitments with work at their own practices. He expected clubs to push to have doctors become full-time members of staff.

Bishop was unsure how many sports science staff were employed by AFL clubs, but admitted he was worried some - even those who were ESSA members - were put under pressure from their clubs to push the boundaries.

''It's the win-at-all-costs, do-whatever-it-takes attitude. I think there's a lot of pressure on sports scientists to sail as close to the wind as possible and find something that will give an advantage that's also legal,'' he said. ''That culture is dangerous and it's helped lead to the problems we're seeing today.''

AFL Sports Science Association head Rob Aughey, a sports scientist at the Western Bulldogs, could not be contacted, but re-tweeted a post made by Geelong dietician Michelle Cort, which read: ''True, legitimate sport scientists do not 'push boundaries' between legal-illegal. They use evidence based research to inform true practice.''